Remember those school days writing essays about all the places your parents trucked you to as a child. I sure do. It was like a reminder that you didn’t kick back and enjoy summer enough and now you were going to be strapped to a desk until it came around again. Thankfully we’re almost grown up and don’t have to sit in the back of the family wagon anymore.

I’m happy to report that, while we’ve had great summer fishing on The Big Gunpowder Falls, there’s plenty of summer left! We’ve had lots of cold water all season with higher than normal flows coming from Prettyboy Reservoir. This means there have been some cold days on the river and a few where the trout have been tight lipped. Midge fishing has saved the day more than a handful of times this year. Even in the coldest temps, they find a way to stay active. Of course, while we haven’t had tons of updates on the kneedeepff.com, you’ve been following us on Facebook and Twitter, so you know we’ve been lucky enough to travel a bit this summer….right?

Looking ahead, we’ve still got a few openings, so think about catching that cold you’ve been fighting. There’s plenty of terrestrial fishing to be had and the Tricos have started emerging. There’s even some fall caddis action to be had as we get into October. Give us a call and get a date on the books before summer passes you by. (202) 681-8765 or email us at info@kneedeepff.com

As we dig into July it’s got me thinking how hot it’s been all June. While there was a lot of sweat I was fortunate enough to see a lot of fish go into the net (and back in the water). With temps in the mid 90’s I joked today that “it’s been hotter!” Maybe we’re all just adjusting but it could be the 50 to 52 degree water.

In any case, there are lots of happy fish in that cold, oxygen rich, water. I spent one afternoon with two great anglers from our pals at Backwater angler. One of them landed this beautiful rainbow. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t hooked a rainbow all summer so I was excited but a little jealous.

A nice healthy wild rainbow

If you’re headed out, don’t forget those midges and the fluorocarbon tippet. If you need a little more help, don’t hesitate to shoot us an e-mail. We’re happy to help and we’d love to take you and your fishing partners out on the water for the day. It’s the perfect time of year for some fishing and a streamside lunch to help you forget about that long winter we had.

So we’ve been (read “I’ve” been) slow to update. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever done. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been lucky enough to be busy and spending a lot of time on the water. Along the way I’ve been fortunate enough to share the Big Gunpowder Falls fishery with some great folks. In the last week I even got to spend the day with Mike Abramowitz and his fantastic spouse. You all may know him from the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide and perhaps from being the friendliest guy on the water. A great Family and good friends of CCA, an organization that’s close to my heart, I just had a fun day sharing my view of the Gunpowder with them. While Mike is no stranger to trout fishing, his wonderful wife managed to hook up all day, seemingly without trying!

The Big Gunpowder Falls has finally shaken off the cold wet spring. Flows are back to a manageable level and the Sulfurs are emerging from that long year of rock-crawling to find their mates. I’ve had a few passes from the home-work and caught the spinner-fall and it feels like summer again. The regular crowd has some great stories about big fish lost and landed and, though I’m late to report the news, it’s shandy time at dusk while watching the fish wake up the water’s surface.

While the Knee Deep Schedule is filling up fast we’ve got a couple openings (even this coming Friday). If you’re looking to get out with us, call or email fast! info@kneedeepff.com (202) 681-8765

Got ants in your pants? Maybe you hadn’t noticed but ants are everywhere this time of year. Sure, beetles and hoppers are cool and get lots of attention but ants are small and, when you find them, you find lots of them.

Last week I found myself and a guest fishing on the Big Gunpowder Falls hunting fish in the shade of overhanging trees. We had one of those “Cast it in there like this” moments and as the fly hit the water it was crashed by a nice brown trout that was watching for food in the trees.

While flows on the Big Gunpowder Falls are abysmally low, smaller streams in the area are looking nice and full for July. Exposed rocks in the Big Gunpowder falls will raise temps below Masemore Rd. fast on hot sunny days while the Baltimore DPW has the valves cranked low. If you’re headed up to there to fish, focus your efforts above Falls Road to avoid tubers and give the fish down-stream a break while they’re under stress from the herons. I think even the tubers and canoeists will have a tough time with flows below 30cfs.

With that said, the Baltimore/DC regions other streams are looking great for July. The Pax rivers are running a bit stained but there’s fishable water to be found around Savage Mill (a favorite of Micah’s for cloudy water smallies) as well as upstream in the other special regs areas. The brookie streams have more water than can usually be expected this time of year and anglers who brave the high grass with a short rod can find fish. We’ll be out tossing the 7-footers in the tiny creeks this week for sure. This is a great time to grab the swim trunks and a few Clouser Minnows to hit the Potomac and cool off. Early and late are going to be your best bets no matter where you go.

While the hot weather eases-up occasionally, it never seems to go away this July. Knee Deep Fly Fishing is here to help you cool off. Right now is the perfect time to ditch the waders and sport those wading-boots with a pair of neoprene booties and get cool in a tail-water like The Big Gunpowder. While your fishing friends may be driving north to New England the water is running in the 50’s here in Maryland.

Staying cool and getting her hands wet!

Outings in the last few weeks have required a lot of patience later in the day (see article about tubing here) but a great assortment of trout-feed has the fish looking up. Caddis, Tricos, beetles and grasshoppers have all fooled trout while anglers kept cool. Big terrestrials fished with a “Fast Caddis” for a dropper have been a winning combo in the riffles. We’ve seen lots of anglers catch their first fly-rod trout in the last few weeks and had quite a few laughs at the tubers floating by. While a few days topped out around 100 degrees, time on the water has been time well spent.

Give Knee Deep Fly Fishing, LLC a call and we can help you find the fish and escape the heat of the city!